How far do I go?

I've had my 996 C4S for nearly 5 years, driven 25,000 miles and it's now on 95,000 miles. It needs new discs and pads but I was also going to do shocks. (Koni Special Active) Car is totally for road use, shared daily with other cars, no intention to sell, I love it. What should I do? Just shocks, bumpstops and top mounts? Or do I go further? I was wondering about coffin arms, dog bones etc, I believe its all original as I have the paperwork of the last 10yrs and no mention. I've done a visual inspection and I cannot seen any signs of issues. The car is still wearing its tyres perfectly, it doesn't feel as stable especially at the rear when pushing on as it used too hence shocks. It's in northern NZ were it rarely sees temps in single digits degC, no salt, always garaged etc. If you recommend doing it all, what's the current wisdom, standard OEM, later 997/991 arms, Meyle or Spyder? If you do a search it's very confussing as at some point all of the options seem to have been in or out of vogue. Are there any parts that are really worth an upgrade to the more bespoke/expensive options? eg Track control arms with adjustable bushings (Remembering I drive this car 2-3 times a week including regular 2-3 hour journeys on poorly surfaced A & B roads, but as I live in the middle of nowhere I can make progress. )

I can vouch for Koni Special actives, as for the rest, depends how you view it, I changed all of miy suspension parts because they were tired, you don't mention their condition.

I can't find any issue with the rest of it and 2 techs (Porsche service centre and independent specialist) were happy too. I guess big question is 23 yrs and 95000 miles.

Ride is bloody firm and loud on poor surfaces though.

I think it would be time for a refresh. 20 + years and 95K miles has got to have taken it's toll. I would also be looking to replace engine and gearbox mounts if not already done recently. It's a big job but you could start at the front and work backwards in stages. I'd also go Meyle or Spyder. OEM Porsche are crazy money... Porsche doesn't make them someone else does.

It all looks really clean so hopefully all the bolts should come off easily. Personally I'd go with stock OEM , they were pretty good from the factory. It's hard to say from photos but age and mileage would suggest a refresh is in order. While it's all apart , I'd do wheel bearings too.

There is an amazing absence of red rust on the steel fixings - would not be the case here in the UK. Drac, good luck with whatever level of renovation/replacement that you eventually decide to go with.

Refresh the whole lot, especially if you're going to do some work now and never selling.

If you want to throw money at the car for no apparent reason, then change the lot. If you're doing the shocks, then as you said - top mounts, bump stops and shocks. Give the large angular contact bearing at the top a good clean and pack with as much grease as you can. Also might want to consider changing the coil springs as they're cheap as chips from your local Porsche centre (I paid £120 for the front pair) and can snap once they're getting that old. Don't bother changing any of the lower arms if they're fine. Once stripped down you can easily feel any play in them. I usually grip the threaded part of the ball joint mount in a vice then give the rest of the arm a good tug to feel for any play in it. All the arms/drop links/track rod ends can easily be changed afterwards without stripping the rest of the set-up if ever they're out of life.

Just another note - the top mounts are quite expensive. You can get the 997 C4S top mounts for virtually half the price and they're the same. I think it's those but double check. I paid something like £70 instead of £130.

If techs are saying the bushings etc are okay then I'd just leave the arms for now they certainly look okay and bushings don't look perished from what you can see. I asked a porsche specialist I trust to check mine when I bought new suspension and they suggested all was fine for now and to save my money for another time. So I suppose it's a big lump of money and do it all now, or do it in stages, I like doing it in stages as it's more manageable and you also appreciate each change more.

More changes, less seizures.

Mine has 147k now and all I had to do was change the top mounts. The rest of the front suspension was pretty good.. Runs very well and tight afterwards with no noise or other issues. Keep the dosh for when you need it lol!

I did the same on my 996 last winter. I was prepared to do the front shocks, top mounts, top bearings, bump stops, but ended up having to do a wheel bearing on one side and bother lower control arms on both sides. However, mine is at 240k km so ~150k miles. I used the 997 top mounts mentioned above as the 996 versions are eye wateringly expensive. Everything was green when i got the car aligned, so only a VERY slight change to the caster.

If I’m going to get a job done I’d get them all done in that area (e.g. do dampers & springs together). Centre Gravity (i think) told me 90k is a good distance for the original dampers. My 996 is for road use and I’ve kept it stock OEM, I took it on track once and found it a bit ‘soft’.